Typographical composing machine



June 15, 1954 RossE'rTo TYPOGRAPHICAL coMPosING MACHINE Filed July 9,1952 .f v 1 m s m .Afm

Patented June 15, 1954 UNITED STAT ATENT OFFICE Louis Rossetto, KingsPoint, N. Y., assignor to Mergenthaler Linotype Company, a corporationof New York Application July 9, 1952, Serial No. 297,885

3 Claims.

This invention relates to typographical composing machines, such asLinotype machines of the general organization represented in U. S.Letters Patent to O. Mergenthaler, No. 436,532, wherein circulatingmatrices and spacebands are selectively composed in an assemblerelevator, the elevator raised to line transfer position, the cornposedline transferred therefrom and presented to the face of a mold between apair of vise jaws for the casting of a typebar or slug, and the matricesand spacebands thereafter separated and returned to their respectivestorage magazines for further use.

In these machines, the matrices and spacebands are assembled in theelevator by a rotary starwheel and against a yielding line resistantfinger which serves to support the line endwise. The finger is mountedat the end of an assembler slide, which slide, although always underspring tension is acted upon by a friction brake which permits it tomove under the influence of incoming matrices and spacebands butprevents its return movement under the influence of the spring. When thecomposition of the line has been completed and the elevator raised theassembler slide brake is released land the slide and finger are returnedby the spring to line receiving position preparatory to the compositionof the next line.

When the line has been presented to the mold between the vise jaws theline is justified that is to say the wedge-shaped spacebands are drivenupwardly to expand the line between the jaws. Thereupon the molten metalis introduced into the mold and against the composed line and unless theline is fully expanded between the jaws a safety device prevents thecasting operation from taking place to prevent the molten metal frombeing forced or squirted through any openings or spaces in the line.Thus when the line is not long enough to be fully justified the line isdistrbuted without having been instrumental in producing a typebar andthe line is lost. On the other hand, the length of the line must notexceed the pre-adjusted distance between the vise jaws, otherwise theline cannot be received in the casting position between the jaws andjamming will occur. When such jamming occurs, the machine is adapted tobe automatically disabled, but nevertheless some damage may result tothe jaws or to the matrices and, in addition, it then becomes necessaryto reverse the main cam shaft of the machine by hand in order torecondition the machine for further operation. It is evident then thatthe or too short is highly undesirable.

The composition of lines to the proper measure has always dependedlargely upon the discretion of the operator, although various safetydevices have been heretofore proposed to prevent the transfer to thecasting mechanism of lines which are too long or too short of a desiredmeasure. However, now that it is becoming common to equip line-castingmachines with tape control units, automatic safety devices to take theplace of the operators judgment are essential.

The present invention is directed to an automatic safety device for thispurpose. Accordingly, the assembler slide is provided with a devicewhich may be adjusted thereon according to the length of line which itis desired to compose. When the composition of the line is completed,the friction brake is rirst momentarily released to tighten the line toits true measure, and the position of the pre-adjusted device will thenpermit or prevent the operation of a locking mechanism for the assemblerelevator according to the length of the line.

These and other features of the present invention will be more fullydescribed in the detailed specication which follows.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the assembling mechanism of a Linotypemachine illustrating the present safety mechanism and the electricalcontrol circuits therefor; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the keyboard and the elevator lockingmechanism.

The matrices and spacebands are individually and selectively releasedfrom a magazine (not shown) by the automatic operation of a keyboard Aand fall by gravity onto the upper stretch of an inclined continuouslymoving belt l, passing around a lower drive pulley 2 and an upper idlerpulley (not shown), whereupon they are directed through a guide chuteformed by lower rails 3 and an upper chute ringer #i to and in front ofa rotating starwheel which stacks them, one by one, in line in anassembler elevator B against a yielding line resistant finger Ei. Afterthe line has been composed, the assembler B is manually or automaticallyelevated and the composed line transferred to casting position.

The line resistant finger is carried at the end of a long assemblerslide l. The slide is mounted to move freely to the left under theinfluence of the incoming matrices which press against the lineresistant linger, although its yielding movement is always under therestraint of a clock spring s. The retrograde movement of the slide tothe right under the tension of the spring is resisted by a pivotal brake9 having parallel friction surfaces which grip the upper and lower edgesof the slide. When the brake S is in a vertical position, the parallelsurfaces do not interfere with the slide and, hence, the spring is freeto return the slide to the right or, at least, as far as the assembledmatrices and spacebands allow it to be moved. Normally, however, thebrake is acted upon at its lower end by a spring l0, attached to astationary guide ll, which serves to pivot the brake from the verticalto the inclined locking position. As the matrices and spacebands areassembled by the starwheel against the linger E, the assembler' slidemoves along, the friction surfaces of the brake yielding slightly andallowing the slide to move to the left.

When composition of the line has been completed, the assembler elevatorB may be raised by a hand lever (not shown) connected to a longhorizontal. rock. shaft i?. (see Fig. 2), latter is in turn connected tothe elevator through horizontal and vertical links I3 and ifi,respectively. When the ma ne is operated automati cally, the hand leveroperated by power taken from the intermedia-te drive shaft of themachine and transmitted through a clutch arrangement to periodicallyoperate a shaft l5 (sce Fig. l). The shaft l5 is equipped with a cam(not shown) which raises the elevator. The speci; c etails of theelevator lifting mechanism per se form no cart of this invention and areshown and described with certain minor variati-ons in U. 53. Patent Nos.2,065,0e, 2,691,286, lt Sullces to say, for present purposes, that thehand lever is adapted to yield when the movement of the elevator isunduly resisted. As the line is raised by the elevator, the brake isreleased in the usual manner to permit the return of the slide i and thefinger t to their extreme rghtward or line receiving position.

Coming now to the present invention, the elevator raising link i3 isprovided with a bracket l having a sidewardly projecting lip ld, whichlip is normally engaged by a pivotal latch l? mounted on the side of thekeyboard A. The latch is maintained in locking position by a smalltension spring i8 (Fig. 2). When the link is thus locked, it isimpossible to raise the elevator B either by hand or by power.

The latch il is adapted at all times to be maintained in lockingposition except when the composed line is within certain limits of thepredetermined desired measure. When the line is within these limits, anelectrical rotary type solenoid it is energized, thereby rotating thevertically disposed portion of the armature ica in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The vertically disposed portion of thearmature, in turn, engages a projecting lip la of the latch l l andpivots the latch to unlocking position, as illustrated by the brokenlines in Fig. 2.

Preparatory to the rise of the elevator B, the brake 9 is momentarilyreleased in order to remove any slack in the line. Obviously, unless allthe slacl; is removed, it is impossible to obtain a true measure of theline. The mechanism for accomplishing this initial release of the brakefrom an automatic tape control unit is described and claimed in apending application of L. Rossetto, Ser. No. 247,501, iiled September2G, i951. However, the stated purpose in that case is to tighten theline to straighten up the end or last matrix and to insure that it isproperly positioned within the assembler during its elevation, ratherthan to remove the slack to obtain a true measurement thereof, as in thepresent case. The releasing of the brake may be accomplished manually bya horizontal lever 2t pivoted at Ma on the front of the machine. Thelever 25J is provided with a downwardly depending arm 20h, which carriesan adjustable screw 2te. The screw 20c is in contact with the brake 9,and when the lever 20 is depressed, that is, rotated in a clockwisedirection, the screw moves the brake to release position. The balance ofthe lever 2G is such that its normal position is an inoperativeposition, where it has no effect on the brake or where the eTect is suchthat it is overcome by the tension of the spring l0.

The automatic operation of the lever 2@ to release the brake for thepurpose stated is accomplished by a rotary type solenoid 2l, having arotatable arm 2 la engaging a vertically disposed pin 29d of the lever.Power to energize the solenoid 2i may be taken from a normal 110 volt A.C. supply, as indicated, and to avoid placing full line voltage on themachine in the interest of safety, a transformer T is utilized to reducethe voltage to 2li. The 24 volt A. C. is transformed into direct currentby a selenium rectifier, designated in l by the reference character R.

The timed operation of the solenoid 2i is oontrolled from the elevatorraising shaft l5 of the automatic tape control unit. Thus, the rearmostextremity of the shaft l5 carries a cam 22 which, through a verticallymovable pin a3, controls the opening and closing of contacts 2da and Elbci' a leaf type switch generally designated 2t. Both the pin E23 and theswitch 2li are supported by an inverted L-shaped bracket 25.

The opening and closing of the switch Y24E control-s the operation ofthe solenoid 2i. The relationship between the elevator raising shaft l5and the cam 2E is such that normally the contacts of the switch are heldapart or open by the pin 23. l'n response to a signal on the controltape, power is transmitted to the shaft l5, rotating it through onecomplete revolution. to effect the elevation of the assembler B. At theinitial stage of the cycle, however, and before any actual movement isimparted to the elevator B, a depression 22a of the cam 22 permits thepin 23 to descend and close the switch 2li to effect momentary operationof the brake releasing solenoid 2l. Later, the high portion 22o againopens the switch 2t, permitting the solenoid to restore itself toinoperative position, the entire operation taking place before theelevator begins its ascent.

When the composition of the line is complete and the slack thus removed,the extent. of the leftward displacement of the slide l' from its exmtreme rightward position affords an accurate measurement of the lengthof the line composed. Accordingly, the slide l is provided with a rideror clamp 3e, which may ce adjusted along the slide with reference to ascale la thereof and with respect to a leaf-type switch, generallydesignated 3l, mounted on the front face plate cover just above theassembler slide. The switch 3l comprises upper and lower leaf contacts3io; and 3 i b, insulated from each other, and the lower Contact 3l?) isprovided with a small roller Sie. The switch 3l is normally open, and itis closed only when the roller 3io makes Contact with the top surface ofclamp 3e. The closing of the switch 3l establishes a circuit from therectifier R to the solenoid i8, which, as we have seen, releases thelatch ll and makes possible the raising of the assembler elevator B.

Thus, as the clamp 30 moves leftwardly during the composition of theline, for a given setting of the clamp the switch 3l is closed only fora line of a certain length, When the line is composed short of thedesired measure, the clamp will be in a position to the right of theroller 3io, and when the line is composed beyondthe desired measure, theclamp will have traveled beneath and to the left of the roller, asindicated by the broken line showing in Fig. 1.

To facilitate the travel of the clamp past the roller 3io in eitherdirection, the upper corners of the clamp are beveled. Actually, theupper cam surface of the clamp is about 3 ems wide so that the switchwill remain closed for a 3 em horizontal movement of the assemblerslide. Naturally, a clamp 0i' less width could be employed, if desired.

By way of summary, the latch Il is normally spring urged into lockingengagement with the projection idc of the elevator raising link i3 andin this position prevents the raising of the elevator. Beforecomposition, the clamp 36 is adjusted with respect to the scale 'laaccording to the length line which is to be assembled and for which thevise jaws are pre-set to receive. As incoming matrices and spacebandsare assembled in the elevator against the finger S, the slide 1gradually yields to the left, carrying the clamp 3l) therewith. When thecomposition of the line is complete, the lever is depressed to removeany slack in the line, and if the machine is equipped with an automatictape control unit,

the lever 20 is automatically momentarily tripped 6 a slip clutchthrough which power is transmitted from the shaft I5 to the elevatorlifting handle, prevents any damage to the machine.

The invention has been shown and described in preferred form, butobviously many variations and modifications may be made therein and inits mode of application which will still be comprised within its spirit.It is understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to anyspecic form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations arespecified in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, the following claims are made:

1. in a typographical composing machine, the combination of an assemblerelevator wherein the line is composed, a lock normally operative toprevent the rise oi the elevator, an electrical solenoid to control therelease of said lock, a normally open electrical swi tch to control theoperation oi said solenoid, an assembler slide yieldable during thecomposition of the line, and a rider settable on said slide in apredetermined position in relation to said switch for a given linelength, said rider being adapted to close the switch when the length ofthe line is within the allowable range of the pre-set measure.

2. A combination according to claim 1 including an assembler side braketo normally prevent retrograde movement of the slide, and timecontrolled means for releasing said brake prior to any movement or" theassembler elevator to tighten up the line.

3. A combination according to claim 1 Wherein the width of the riderdetermines the range over which the elevator lock will remain inactive.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,970,566 Kleinschmidt Aug. 21, 19341 2,163,390 Fine June 20,1939 2,455,276 Swatzell Nov. 30, 1943

